Research and Resources

Articles and Reports

Brown, C. (2004). Content based ESL curriculum and academic language proficiency. The Internet TESL Journal, 10(2).
Access article: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Brown-CBEC.html (outside link) .
This article discusses critical needs for implementing a content-based ESL curriculum (CBEC) in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes as measures to further ensure their success in academic achievement. The article introduces a theoretical framework that provides rationale for CBEC and presents ways to implement CBEC.

Chamot, A.U., & O'Malley, M.J. (1994). CALLA handbook: Implementing the cognitive academic language learning approach. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Reviewed in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language English Journal (TESL-EJ), Vol. 2, No. 3, January 1997.
Access review: http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej07/r5.html (outside link) .
Based on findings in cognitive studies, the handbook offers practical guidelines for designing and implementing a CALLA program. This review gives an in-depth description of the contents of the handbook.

Fillmore, L.W., & Snow, C.E. (2000). What teachers need to know about language. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Access article: http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0006fillmore.html (outside link) .
A clear, concise paper detailing what teachers need to know about teaching the English language, including the professional development and preparation needed for teaching academic language.

Hirsch, E.D., Jr. (2001). Overcoming the language gap: Making better use of the literacy time block. American Educator, 25(5), 8-9.
Access article: http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/summer2001/lang_gap_hirsch.html (outside link) .
Addressing the persistent gap in verbal knowledge and skills particularly notable in fourth grade national test scores, Hirsch applies his experience and research to recommend implementing instruction that reduces the reading gap while making better use of the time allotted to language arts.

Moats, L.C. (2001). Overcoming the language gap: Invest generously in teacher professional development. American Educator, 25(5), 8-9.
Access article: http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/summer2001/lang_gap_moats.html. (outside link)
The author warns, "Poor reading has become more than national news: it is a national crisis, an epidemic in the urban landscape." Moats describes the depth of word poverty and deficiencies in language skills many students experience, and calls for the need to prepare teachers to teach language skills so that students are successful.

Schwartz, R., & Rafael, T. (1985). Concept of definition: A key to improving students’ vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 39, 198-205.
This article provides lesson plans that use semantic word maps for helping students to improve their vocabulary knowledge and comprehension in all subject areas.

Solomon, J., & Rhodes, N. (1995). Conceptualizing academic language. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Access report: http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/ncrcdsll/rr15.htm (outside link) .
The purpose of this report is to explore academic language on a broader discourse-level of analysis. The authors show how academic tasks influence academic language discourse styles in fifth grade class lessons. They also compare the research literature and their own classroom research with the results of a survey on academic language that they distributed to ESL educators.

Books

Allen, J. (1999). Words, words, words: Teaching vocabulary in grades 4-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
This book provides educators with a strong research base, detailed classroom-based lessons, and graphic organizers to support the strategy lessons. Includes practical solutions for meeting standards in ways that are meaningful and lasting.

Baumann, J., & Kame’enui, E. (2004). Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice. NY: The Guilford Press.
A collection of research reports and instructional practices for extending and enriching classroom teaching and student access to word meanings. Prominent researchers identify and discuss the multiple components of effective vocabulary instruction.

Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction and questioning the author. NY: Guilford Publishing.
The publisher's summary states, "This book provides a research-based framework and practical strategies for vocabulary development with children from the earliest grades through high school. The authors emphasize instruction that offers rich information about words and their uses and enhances students' language comprehension and production."

Beers, K. (2004). When kids can't read - What teachers can do: A teacher's guide 6-12. NH: Heinemann.
The author shows teachers how to help struggling readers with comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, word recognition, and motivation. Research and experience-based recommendations are presented for teachers with multilevel diverse classes of students.

Blachowicz, C., & Fisher, P. (2002). Teaching vocabulary in all classrooms (2nd edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall
Language arts and content teachers grades K-12 will find classroom ideas for teaching vocabulary in this resource. These techniques serve a broader goal of enhancing the acquisition of content knowledge. This edition includes special attention to the needs of English language learners and contextual cues.

California Department of Education. (2000). Strategic teaching and learning: Standards-based instruction to promote content literacy in grades four through twelve. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education.
The curricular foundation of this book is aligned with the California English-Language Arts Content Standards and contains cross-references throughout. It was designed to be useful for teaching all content areas in grades 4 through 12. It particularly addresses the needs of struggling readers in reading and comprehending across the curriculum.

Folse, K.S. (2004). Vocabulary myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Vocabulary myths begin with a review of basic concepts about vocabulary in second language acquisition. The book deals with eight prevailing myths about vocabulary using short vignettes from Folse's teaching experiences. Folse discusses why each myth is wrong and what research says about the myth. Research informs practical classroom application.

Hiebert, E., & Kamil, M. (2005). Teaching and learning vocabulary: Bringing research to practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.
The core group of chapters in this volume originated from presentations at the forum on vocabulary that was held in Dallas, Texas in October 2003. It addresses the areas identified by the National Reading Panel as requiring investigation. The chapters cluster around three persistent issues in the learning and teaching of vocabulary.

Marzano, R. (2005). Building academic vocabulary: Teacher's manual. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Chapter One proposes: "This manual will enable you to design and implement a comprehensive approach to teaching academic vocabulary as a district, a school, or an individual classroom teacher. The rationale for and research behind this approach are described in depth in Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools (Marzano, 2004). We strongly encourage you to read it."

Marzano, R.J. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement: Research on what works in schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
This volume defines characteristics of effective vocabulary instruction, provides a six-step process for direct instruction in vocabulary, and identifies vocabulary terms critical to student success.

Paynter, D.E., Bodrova, E., Doty, J.K., & Duke, N.K. (2005). For the love of words: Vocabulary instruction that works grades K-6. NJ: Jossey-Bass.
For the Love of Words is a practical and systematic instructional framework for helping students overcome “the vocabulary gap” in order to succeed academically. This approach develops strategies for learning new words based on current research.

Pilgreen, J. (2006). Supporting English learners: Developing academic language in the content-area classroom. Supporting the literacy development of English learners. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.   
This excellent chapter provides lists of seldom-taught academic vocabulary and strategies for explicitly teaching that vocabulary.

Stahl, S. (1999). Vocabulary development. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
In this book, Stahl brings together classic and new views on vocabulary and reading comprehension. He evaluates those views from the standpoint of research and practice, and suggests those practices that have the most beneficial effects in the classroom.

Online Resources

Academic Word List - Averil Coxhead
http://language.massey.ac.nz/staff/awl/index.shtml (outside link)
Useful for determining which words to teach and how to teach word relationships, this site presents word families for the stem forms of words.

Academic Word List - LogixLab
http://www.logixlab.com/literature.html (outside link)
Several word lists for selected book titles and information on word selection and learning words.

A Focus on Vocabulary - Pacific Resources for Education and Learning
http://ppo.prel.org/cs/ppo/run/zzz?x-r=ppobrowse&title_id=3664&search_type=title (outside link)
The second publication in the Research-based Practices in Early Reading Series carefully defines "vocabulary knowledge" and related terms to offer specific suggestions for instruction, citing research that supports these practices.

KidsHealth
http://www.kidshealth.com/ (outside link)
This resource provides kid-friendly informational text for classroom use. A Teen version is also available.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
http://www.ldoceonline.com/ (outside link)
This is an online dictionary useful for vocabulary teaching. Typing a word, such as 'salt,' brings up many entries: noun, verb, and adjective references, as well as common idioms and proper nouns. Choose one of these selections, such as 'salt' verb to get verb forms with prepositions and phrasal verbs. Simplified definitions are provided along with a sample sentence (for headwords that start with D or S: can be heard online). Visuals are also provided.

Narrowing the Language Gap: Strategies for Vocabulary Development - Fresno County Office of Education
http://www.fcoe.net/ela/regionvii.htm#cavforum (outside link)
Taking off from the recognition that vocabulary knowledge and lexical skills have a profound impact on student achievement throughout the academic career, this proposal from Kate Kinsella and Kevin Feldman succinctly lays out what does work contrasted against what doesn't work.

Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read
http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/PFRbooklet.pdf (outside link)
This guide from the National Institute for Literacy, based on the findings of the National Reading Panel Report, summarizes how to successfully teach children to read. It describes and provides analysis in five areas of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Each section defines the skill, reviews the evidence from research, suggests implications for classroom instruction, describes proven strategies for teaching reading skills, and addresses frequently raised questions.

Reading Corner
http://www.scoe.org/content.php?SubsiteId=10 (outside link)
This site has useful resources and information on literacy - including comprehension and vocabulary. Joining Dr. Feldman's listserv keeps you up to date on literacy-related information.

Teaching Children to Read - National Reading Panel
http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/Publications/summary.htm (outside link)
From the Summary Report: "This 35-page report explains the origin of the Panel and its congressional charge. It succinctly describes the research methodology used and the findings of each of the Panel subgroups: (1) Alphabetics, (2) Fluency, (3) Comprehension, (4) Teacher Education and Reading Instruction, and (5) Computer Technology and Reading Instruction. This report also offers insightful information provided by Panel members on reading instruction topics that may require further exploration."

Teaching Vocabulary in the Content Areas - Prince George County Public Schools
http://www.pgcps.pg.k12.md.us/~elc/readingacross2.html (outside link)
This site talks about the rationale for teaching vocabulary across the curriculum, how to keep a vocabulary notebook, and a self-evaluation for teaching reading in the content areas.

Word Lab - LogixLab
http://www.logixlab.com/overview.html (outside link)
Web-based interactive program for internalizing word knowledge for students in grades 4-12, with pre-assessment, instructional activities, and final assessment. Note: subscription required; they offer 3-month free trial in classroom. Online information includes 11 best approaches for teaching word acquisition as recommended by researchers (extensive research references).

Word Net - Cognitive Science Laboratory
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/ (outside link)
Provides an electronic lexical database for English; enter a word and get the parts of speech, related words, and simple definition. This tool can serve to inform instruction of English lexicon.